Decline of European virtue ethic is topic of UI faculty lecture Oct. 12

Oct 6, 2011 - 7:00pm

Russell Valentino, University of Iowa professor of cinema and comparative literature in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), will present a lecture at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, in the Gerber Lounge, Room 304 English Philosophy Building, titled “From Virtue to Virtuality: Property, Commerce and the Quest for Masculine Character from Dostoevsky to DeLillo.” This event is free and open to the public.

Valentino will discuss the decline of the centuries-old European virtue ethic with the rise of modern forms of symbolic value from the 18th century to the present. In particular, Valentino will address the contrasting approaches of the United States and the Russian Empire to the rise and spread of a commercial ethic, which he calls a consensual fantasy.

Following Valentino’s presentation will be a formal response from David Depew, executive director of the Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry at the UI, followed by a general Q-and-A period.

The event is sponsored by the Eighteenth-and Nineteenth-Century Interdisciplinary Colloquium and International Programs.